Protective pad for furniture articles

ABSTRACT

A protective pad which can be detachably secured to corners of furniture articles and the like, so that persons, particularly small children falling against the furniture corners, will not suffer from grevious injury. The pad is cushioned in three directions and is preferably constructed of foam rubber. When the protective pad is applied to the corners of an article of furniture, such as a table, persons falling against the table corner will receive only a minor bruise rather than suffering grevious bodily injury.

United States Patent [191 KaIt 1 1 Apr. 3, 1973 [541 PROTECTIVE PAD FOR FURNITURE ARTICLES [76] Inventor: Bryson R. Kalt, 205 East 85th St.,

New York, N.Y. 10028 22 Filed: 1811.8,1971

21 Appl. No.: 104,891

52 us. Cl. ..l61/116,161/149,161/159, 161/167,161/406 51 Int. Cl. .3321) 3/00 [58] Field of Search ..l6l/406, 159,167, 44,116, 161/118,124, 149,160,161

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,434,903 3/1969 Hann ..l6l/167 X 1,936,113 11/1933 Jelliffe 161/44 UX 1,960,137 5/1934 Brown ..16l/406 UX 2,702,769 2/1955 Aldcrfcr ..16l/l49 X 2,708,578 5/1955 Mitchell ..l6l/4()6 UX 3,173,826 3/1965 Campbell et al ..l6l/406 X Primary ExaminerWilliam A. Powell Attorney-Allison C. Collard [57] ABSTRACT A protective pad which can be detachably secured to corners of furniture articles and the like, so that persons, particularly small children falling against the furniture corners, will not suffer from grevious injury. The pad is cushioned in three directions and is preferably constructed of foam rubber. When the protective pad is applied to the corners of an article of furniture, such as a table, persons falling against the table corner will receive only a minor bruise rather than suffering grevious bodily injury.

5 Claims, 4 Drawing Figures PROTECTIVE PAD FOR FURNITURE ARTICLES This invention relates to a protective pad particularly adapted for mounting on furniture articles and the like. More specifically, this invention relates to a protective pad which can be detachably mounted to each corner of a furniture article so that the furniture article becomes safe around persons, such as small children,

who are likely to fall against the furniture.

Many modern designs of tables and chairs include sharp corners which project out at heights above the floor level that correspond to the height of a small child. Many small children who tumble off other articles of furniture or trip at the floor level have been seriously injured by falling against sharp corners of furniture articles. In other instances, adults have been seriously bruised or injured by accidental contact with sharp corners of furniture articles and building structures. In certain situations, persons have attempted to protect sharp corners of furniture articles and building structures by padding these corners with temporary patches of tape and cloth. These conventional methods suffer from the disadvantage in that they often become accidentally disengaged from the sharp corner or do not offer adequate protection to persons accidentally falling against these corners.

Accordingly, the present invention provides an improved protective corner for furniture articles and the like which protects three surfaces of the corner with an impact absorbing pad that can be adhesively attached to the three surfaces of the corner. The protective pad of the invention consists of a triangularly-shaped member whose outer covering contains a shock-absorbent material, such as foam rubber and the like. The shock-absorbent material is built up to an increased thickness in three directions at the corner of the triangular piece, so as to provide added thickness at the corner in the event of an accidental contact. The protective pad of the subject invention also includes a contact or pressure-sensitive adhesive disposed on its three internal surfaces so that when a backing strip is removed from each of these surfaces, the protective pad can be adhesively secured to the corner of an article of furniture and the like. The adhesive is sufficiently strong to prevent the protective pad from being accidentally removed from the furniture article while permitting the user to be able to remove the corner when the danger of accidental injury is no longer present.

It is therefore an object according to the present invention to provide a protective pad which can be demountably secured to the corners of furniture articles and the like.

It is another object according to the present invention to provide a protective pad for furniture articles and the like consisting of a triangular member having a shock-absorbent material disposed on three of its external surfaces which isbuilt up on the intersection of these surfaces to provide a safe deterrent against accidents.

It is still another object according to the present invention to provide a protective pad for detachable securement to the furniture articles and the like which is simple in design, easy to instalLand reliable in operation.

Other objects and features of the present invention will become apparent from the following detailed description considered in connection with the accompanying drawing which discloses the embodiment of the invention. It is to be understood, however, that the drawing is designed for the purpose of illustration only and not as a definition of the limits of the invention.

In the drawing, wherein similar reference characters denote similar elements throughout the several views:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the protective pad of the invention as viewed from its bottom side;

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the outer surfaces of the protective pad as applied to a furniture article;

FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view taken along section 33 of FIG. 2; and

FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view taken along section 44 of FIG. 3.

Referring to FIGS. 1-4, there is shown the protective pad 10 constructed of a triangularly-shaped formed shock-absorbing covering 14, having converging sides 12 and 13 integrally formed with covering 14. Shock absorbing sides 12 and 13, and covering 14 are each disposed in intersecting planes so that they merge at an area having an enlarged thickness 11 for disposal over the corner of a furniture article 20. As seen in detail in FIGS. 3 and 4, the enlarged shock-absorbent cushion or pad disposed over the corner of the furniture article 20 offers added protection for persons falling against that corner, without providing an unsightly or noticeable enlargement of the corner. The shock-absorbent pad tapers in three directions along its sides 12 and 13, and covering 14 so as to become almost feathered at its edges. On the bottom surfaces of sides 12 and 12, and covering 14 is applied an adhesive 15, 18 and 19 which is covered by backing or release strips 16, 17 and 20 respectively. The release strips can be pulled off adhesives 15, 18 and 19 so that the protective pad can be easily applied to an article of furniture and the like. The user need only press down on all three surfaces of the protective pad so that pressure-sensitive adhesives 15, 18 and 19 become demountably secured to the surfaces of the furniture article. The protective pad of the invention can be removed when desired by merely prying up the three surfaceswhich were attached to the furniture article. The adhesive of the protective corner has been selected so as to be sufficiently strong to prevent its accidental detachment from an article of furniture while not leaving any unsightly residue when removed, or destroying the protective coating or surface of the furniture. Adhesives 15, 18 and 19 may be directly deposited on the shock-absorbent pad, or applied to a substrate layer 22 which is fastened to the pad. Substrate layer 22 would serve to prevent pieces of foam rubber from becoming detached from the shock-absorbent pad when the pad is removed from the furniture corner.

In an actual embodiment of the invention, shock-absorbing surfaces 11, 12, 13 and 14 are preferably constructed of a heavy foam rubber material. The edges of sides 12 and 13, and covering 14 are preferably rounded so that they will not he accidentally unfastened by various articles which may be placed on the top surface of the table.

While only a few embodiments of the present invention have been shown and described, it will be obvious that many modifications and changes may be made thereunto without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention.

What is claimed is:

1. A protective pad for mounting on the corners of furniture articles, comprising:

a triangular-shaped, shock-absorbing planar covering, having a pair of converging sides integrally formed therewith and disposed perpendicular to the surface of said covering, said covering and said converging sides being disposed in intersecting planes and having an enlarged thickness at the area of convergance of said sides and said covering, and decreasing in thickness along their lengths extending away from said area of convergance, for forming a protective shock-absorbing cushion adjacent a corner of a furniture article; and

means, disposed on the inside surface of said covering, for securing said covering and said sides to the furniture article.

2. The protective pad as recited in claim 1 further comprising heavy foam rubber, disposed on said triangular-shaped covering between said sides, and having an enlarged thickness at the area of convergance of said sides and said covering for forming a shock-absorbing cushion adjacent the corner of the furniture article.

3. The protective pad as recited in claim 2, wherein said securing means comprises a substrate fastened to the underside of said covering and sides, of the protective pad and including a pressure-sensitive adhesive disposed on the open side of said substrate.

4. The protective pad as recited in claim 2, wherein said securing means comprises a pressure-sensitive adhesive disposed on the underside of said triangularshaped covering and said sides.

5. The protective pad as recited in claim 4, wherein said securing means additionally comprises a releasable backing strip covering said adhesive. 

1. A protective pad for mounting on the corners of furniture articles, comprising: a triangular-shaped, shock-absorbing plaNar covering, having a pair of converging sides integrally formed therewith and disposed perpendicular to the surface of said covering, said covering and said converging sides being disposed in intersecting planes and having an enlarged thickness at the area of convergance of said sides and said covering, and decreasing in thickness along their lengths extending away from said area of convergance, for forming a protective shockabsorbing cushion adjacent a corner of a furniture article; and means, disposed on the inside surface of said covering, for securing said covering and said sides to the furniture article.
 2. The protective pad as recited in claim 1 further comprising heavy foam rubber, disposed on said triangular-shaped covering between said sides, and having an enlarged thickness at the area of convergance of said sides and said covering for forming a shock-absorbing cushion adjacent the corner of the furniture article.
 3. The protective pad as recited in claim 2, wherein said securing means comprises a substrate fastened to the underside of said covering and sides of the protective pad and including a pressure-sensitive adhesive disposed on the open side of said substrate.
 4. The protective pad as recited in claim 2, wherein said securing means comprises a pressure-sensitive adhesive disposed on the underside of said triangular-shaped covering and said sides.
 5. The protective pad as recited in claim 4, wherein said securing means additionally comprises a releasable backing strip covering said adhesive. 